"The Gastro-Intestinal Wonder From Down Under"

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 16th, 2004

What to make of this recent item in a publication that calls itself The Australian Times?

LAS VEGAS– Stand up comedian Eddie Warren, 49, said his struggle with finding decent material had led him to the fart joke.

“It is simple and it works. The KISS principle, keep it simple stupid,” Mr Warren said.

Mr Warren, who goes by the name of Funny Eddy, said the fart was a simple act to perform and it always brought a laugh.

“It doesn’t even need to be a real fart,” Mr Warren said. “Sometimes I just push my tongue out the side of my mouth and make the sound. Laughs straight away.’

Las Vegas Comedy Corner owner Max Hilton said since Funny Eddy had changed his act he had continued to play to packed houses.

“This is really great for business. Comedy is win/win. We make bucks and the people are happy. I guess you could say the people are happy to make us rich,” Mr Hilton said.

“I quite often have a chair on stage. As I pick up my foot to place it on the chair I fart,” Mr Warren said. “Another routine includes making different farting sounds and calling them names like the wet fart, the sneaky fart, the George W Bush fart. It is really making a name for me.”

Patron Jimmy Birkley of California said he had never seen anything as funny as the Funny Eddy show.

“I almost pissed myself when he did the funny walk across the stage and farted all the way,” Mr Birkley said. “And the one when he tried to play the national anthem through his arse was hilarious.”

If we were to take him on as a public relations client, we would dub him “The Gastro-Intestinal Wonder From Down Under.” Can anyone in Vegas verify the existence of “The Comedy Corner?” We are loath to classify or categorize the likes and dislikes of an entire country’s comedy community, but it seems that an inordinate number of comedians who make a splash up here do so either by jamming something into, or expelling something out of, their ass. We’re reminded of the fellow from down under who made quite a name for himself at the Just For Laughs festival of a few years back by ending his set by igniting a roman candle which had been inserted in his “arse.” (Sure, a lot of American or Canadian comics do the same, but it’s usually offstage!)